Hempnall FC

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Another match has gone another 3 good points ‘ground’ out at a tough venue.

I notice that in some quarters they are saying the quality in this league has diminished & things ‘aint what they used to be’! This may be the case but in my view, long may it last.

We now have a situation where all three results are obtainable in all fixtures, which in my opinion makes the league more exciting and unpredictable.

I also think looking further afield a similar change is needed in the English Premiership. The money has brought better quality but at the expense of excitement as a 3 tiered system now exists. You will definitely never get a promoted side challenging for the title as historically (Ipswich, Forest etc.) have done.

Money has meant that success is now measured by survival in the 1^st season for any promoted side, and in many cases matches realistically only have 2 results obtainable.

Anyway back to things closer at home and far more important!

We welcomed Lee Devlin for his full debut after a 2 minute substitute appearance a month ago cost him and us 4 missed matches through injury. What a fine debut and useful asset he appears to be, slotting in nicely for the unavailable Carl Harwin (work). Tom Halliwell and Ben Nichols were still out through injury but the good news is they are on the way back, with Tom aiming for Saturday week. Bens injury/return is a little more unpredictable.

Last week it took us 45 minutes to get going, against Spixworth it took 45 seconds as we learnt some lessons from the previous week!

A good passing move resulted in Rob Browne bursting to the by-line, putting in an excellent cross which an unfortunate defender turned into his own net to put us one up in the 1^st minute.

On a big pitch with a surprisingly dry surface we played some good football creating 1 or 2 openings. But the longer the half went on the more Spixworth got into the game.

Some of the earlier football started to decline and the game submerged into a midfield battle for supremacy with neither side really working the keeper and defences remaining on top.

At halftime there was much healthy ‘debate’ around where things could be improved. We had become departmentised (don’t think that’s an actual word but ho hum!). Was the defence to deep, were the front 2 not holding ball up long enough for the midfield to support, was a midfield formation right for the day. Who knows probably a little bit of all those things?

However, we entered the second half with no changes and as is usual in this league a good tactical change from Midi Brown, took some of our earlier challenges away and created new ones.

The impressive Ramsey Gashut was pushed on creating more of a 4-3-3 formation, which started to cause us problems from the off. The talented right side player started to find gaps and Sam Wenham was ‘sacrificed’ to combat the change, given a man to man tracking brief.

This appeared to have stemmed the flow until Sam tried to ‘nick’ a ball, getting wrong side of his man allowing Ramsey a free run to the by-line before pulling an excellent cross for the inrushing Damien Didwell to slam past Cudden from 6 yards.

Spixworth now held the upper hand in terms of possession and goal scoring opportunities but none that clear cut.

Slowly we started to rally with Player and Greg Devlin working tirelessly to maintain our foot hold in the game.

Atonement for Wenham arrived when we put together our first notable piece of football in the 2^nd half. This climaxed in Sam bursting down the left before crossing a delightful cross come shot round the back of the Spixworth defence for Paul (is he Sams dad !?) Franklin to blast past the keeper.

Browney finally succumbed to an earlier knock and was replaced by Kelvin Willimott.

With us now 2-1 in front the game continued in its tight ‘chess like’ situation, with one false move having the penalty of seeing 2 or 3 valuable points sliding away.

Jones and Pretty entered the challenge, both being introduced with the intention of adding an ounce more stability, in holding on to our slender advantage as the home side never gave up.

Using their own subs and shuffling their own pack to try to obtain a point which depending on which side of the fence you were sitting, may or may not have been deserved.

In the final minute with the ball bobbling in our area, the whistle went for what appeared to be a high boot. A long conversation ensued between ref and linesman, with all waiting with bated breath for the outcome. A penalty this late in the game would have been harsh but surely would have resulted in a draw, barring a Cudden save.

To our relief the verdict was offside and we hung on for 3 very hard earned but precious points.

The game itself never reached any great heights as a spectacle but the underlying importance in obtaining points for our goal of a top 4 finish, meant the excitement was there as the result was in doubt until the last kick or in this case ‘decision’ of the game.

On a day when defences held the upper hand our man of the match was narrowly won by Iain Mills, with debutant Lee Devlin & old ‘charger’ (doesn’t seem the right word !), Marty Addison on his tail. Good to see Frankie back on the goal trail in another trade mark performance, battling hard for 90 minutes against a tight and resolute defence.